If you're interested in fairytales and retellings, definitely check out T. Kingfisher's work. I'd especially suggest checking out her book The Halcyon Fairy Book - it's lesser known, but it has the author examining some old folk tales, with her comments along the way, and it almost feels like reading the folk tale together with her and analysing it. Very fun and interesting read!
New fan/ subscriber! I think you might enjoy a little known favorite of mine: The Eight by Katherine Neville. It's an epic historical fiction published in 1985. I think you would love it because it has a little classics flavor as well as some dark academia vibes. I hesitate to make this comparison but the most succinct way I can describe it is the DaVinci code if it was written by a woman, with a female protagonist, but written decades earlier and SO MUCH BETTER. It's about the search for Charlemagne's mythical chess set (which is a mystery I won't spoil for you) and it alternates between two storylines, one in 1970s New York and the other in 1790s France. The scope of this story is huge but is also just delightful in the way it brings the details of these time periods and places to life, owing to the fact that the author is pulling from a lot of personal experience. Disclaimer: the book is long, dense, and complex, and took me forever to get through the first time because the buildup of this mystery seems endless but I re-read it at least once a year now and always learn something new I hadn't thought about before. Hope you check it out!
The decription on what you would've wanted from Belladonna sounds like The Invisible life of Addie LaRue, but a bit different, no that I think about it..
I have a page in my journal called "what was good about today", and I was struggling to find something good about today, and then I remembered I watched this video in the morning, and I remembered the good and comfort feeling I had while watching it. So that was it. And it got me thinking that Leonie is just there living her life, not even imagining that there is a girl in Brazil that just wrote in her journal "today I watched Leonie's new video", and that was the only good thing about my day. So thank you.
The journal sounds like a lovely idea, I think it's great that you take that time and space for yourself every day. And I sincerely hope that you will have lots of more good things to write in there soon. Maybe you think it's weird that some random girl relates to your state of mind, but I just stumbled about you comment and wanted to pass on some kindness. I hope you're doing & feeling okay :)
I don't write journals, but I used to write daily good things that happen last year, it really helped me with my mood and remember the good things and now I don't do it anymore and it does feel a bit more gloomy than when I would do it 😭
Ok but i do feel the same way for a lot of things like when im listening to something or reading some book and i just think with myself " the author have no idea a girl from persia is reading this and drawing things for it" i mean it is pretty interesting how much stories or media in general effects all sorts of different people from all arond the world in different moments
About the narration in Wuthering Heights: we read the book last year in my book club and also talked about this. My view on it was that it was quite clever to tell the story through the maid because she represented the perspective of us / the reader. We are only watching what is unfolding and are pretty powerless to do anything about it or really help anyone. So she kind of mirrors our position, if that makes sense.
So, about Wuthering Heights... I think that if it was told from the perspective of one of the main characters, we would have had the "romantic/dramatical aura" that we had in Twilight. The reason why the story was told from some outsider perspective is the fact that when we are in an abusive relationship, we often don't realise that. 😅
Erl king is probably a reference to the German song, Erlkönig by Franz Schubert and written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe! My music teacher in middle school sang this to us, and I loved it - it was super creepy. It was about the king of the elves who steals children. From google: The name translates literally from the German as “Alder King” rather than its common English translation, “Elf King” (which would be rendered as Elfenkönig in German). It has often been suggested that Erlkönig is a mistranslation from the original Danish elverkonge, which does mean “king of the elves.”
Wuthering Heights is one of my all time favourite books but I get what you're saying about the narrative style. I think a lot of people have an idea of what they think WH is about, an epic romance basically, and when you read it it's definitely not that. I was pleasantly surprised by that the first time I read it, and how it does actually address the ideas of generational trauma and cycles of abuse, long before they would have had names for that kind of stuff.
Having just read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte) - I feel compelled to recommend it to you because I think it addresses what you didn't like about Wuthering Heights (not getting a POV from the people in the relationship), while still maintaining a super similar gothic vibe and telling a story of abuse and its impact.
@@palcicaa I enjoyed it! It was definitely slow, but once I got to the diary section I was super engaged. I haven't read a lot of other Bronte works, so all I can say is that I enjoyed it a lot more than Jane Eyre (which I just didn't click with). I definitely say give it a go if it sounds interesting, and if you're iffy at the beginning I think the diary section (which is like ~150-200 pages in) is where it gets really good.
Have you seen the 1996 BBC adaptation of The Tenant at Wildfell Hall starring Tara Fitzgerald and Toby Stephens? If so, how effectively did it convey the themes and crucial plot elements of the novel? I love the adaptation and haven't been compelled to read the source material.
OMG I second this! It has the classic Gothic vibes of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, but with even better immersive descriptive writing, and it has the 'obsession' theme done really well from the pov of a character who is actually feeling the obsession. Exactly what Leonie was looking for. Wuthering Heights holds a special place in my heart because it was one of my favorite books as a teen before I even read many adult books, and it got me really into flawed characters, and it has influenced my own stories as well. But although I definitely still like Wuthering Heights, I think Rebecca is better written.
The first thing you need to know about Wuthering Heights is: it is NOT a love story. It has been marketed as a love story, but it is not. It is a dark tale with protagonists you are meant to hate, seen from the point of view of a person of a lower class, commenting on the habits and thoughts of her wealthier employers, criticising them and exposing them. Nelly works as a sort of self-insert for Emily herself, since she also worked, if briefly, at households similar to Wuthering Heights and observed the frivolity and indolence of the upper strata, depicted in Catherine. She mixed that with another almost self-insert character and a homage to her literary hero, Lord Byron, in Heathcliff. But Heatcliff is never meant to be sympathetic, Heathcliff is the perversion of the romantic ideal when inserted into Brontë's realist narrative, he is also a fear of what is "other", a fear of the foreign or the exterior that evolved into the Dracula type narrative. Now the voice of Longwood was there for two reasons: first, he is a well to do male narrator, and therefore, liable to be taken more seriously than the voice of a maid, at least in mid 19th century. Secondly, his arrival offers a queue for the start of the narrative, without him, there is no reason or purpose for the narrative to start thirldy, something that has been lost in later years is the need of the author to justify their book "in universe" so to speak, Emily needed a fictional reason for the manuscript that was Wuthering Heights to exist, and that reason is Longwood's letters to his brother. It is like Jonathan Harker's journal entries or Doctor Watson's work for the Strand. The only other way for her to achieve this while using one of the main characters as first person narrators was if the story was written as a confesion by Heathcliff or Linton or Cathy, and still, for her to bring across the whole story as she intended she would have needed someone who compiled it, who couldn't be Nelly, because of her gender and class. Maybe one of the kids could have done it. But anyway, I don't mean to be pedantic with this obnoxiously long comment, I myself didn't love Wuthering Heights the first time I read it because I was expecting something else. But after studying the Brontë's in depth, I consider Emily to be the best writer out of the three and honestly love to hate her marvellous book and her cast of detestable characters.
I would love to see your thoughts on Anna Karenina if you liked a classic like Jane Eyre, it’s a comment on Russian society, love, passion and obsession. Unlike what you said about Wuthering Heights, you get very close into the minds of all the characters and their layered plots even though it’s in third person.
I love Wuthering Heights, but I agree with your opinion about the POV. It would have been much better if we could actually glimpse the real feelings of the characters. I had the same issue with The Phantom of the Opera since the narrator is some unknown guy who discovers this story thirty years later. I am so happy that you are enjoying One Dark Window! It was one of the best reads for me last year
YES! I cant believe how much I ADORED One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns, and I definitely liked Two Twisted Crowns better! I finished it at like 2 in the morning and was sobbing in bed for the last chapter or two 😅 Being someone hwho really doesnt cry much, thats saying something!
The funny thing for me is I love „Wuthering Heights“ but „Jane Eyre“ was just ok for me. I despise Mr. Rochester more than Heathcliff. For me Catherine and Heathcliff fell in love because they were the only people who could understand the darkest parts of their souls, while their „partners“ only liked the ideas of them. Their relationship just makes sense, because you see them in their most wicked moments still swooning for the other, while everyone else would try to run away. The story feels like a family drama instead of dramatic romance. I rooted for almost everyone except for Heathcliff‘s son (satan‘s copy). They all do gross stuff to each other through the story, but seeing the next generation followed by Nellie finally overcoming all the trauma caused by the ones before them, makes this story so sweet. And Heathcliff dying after he knew that they turned out to be strong enough to put up with him is so funny. I also have some strange idea for a modern retelling of it since I read it. „Wuthering Heights“ but in the style of „the Kardashians“. I think it would be insane and funny at the same time. Heathcliff complaining about everything in a white box would be gold. ( Ah I almost forgot. I‘m also glad that it‘s from Nellie‘s perspective I love her and sharing a head with Catherine and Heathcliff is only tolerable in snippets)
the bronte sisters didn't have money and charlotte and anne both worked as governesses, so that is kind of their window onto the rich people they worked for. it's typical for them to narrate their stories through servant perspectives. it kind of tells you about them as authors, the separation that they felt. I can see how you as a modern reader in a more class flattened society would want that more direct connection. I need to reread wuthering heights but I have a big physical TBR shelf I'm trying to get to. wuthering heights is kind of the origin of that tall dark handsome bad boy romantic hero - worth reading just to get that history.
“you are a product of your environment” THANK YOU! i feel the same way when i read all these historical fiction books where these women are perfect 21st century thinkers, it was my main criticism of “lesssons in chemistry”
This video is literally the highlight of my day. I'm sick and I need to write an essay for college even though it's hard to concentrate. And I was so happy when I saw the post of a new video. I really needed this cozy calm atmosphere 💜
The Brontes are so great at taking a romance and turning it into a more cynical cautionary tale. Angela Carter is always interesting. Hope you've been well Leonie!
Thank you for this dose of humour and good books❤ To answer your question, the traditional fairy tale that inspired "The Bloody Chamber" is very famous in France. It is called "Barbe Bleue" (meaning Blue Beard) and it was standardised by Charles Perrault in the 17th century like Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. The original version is already pretty gothic but Angela Carter's retelling is gold✨✨✨
I've recently found her channel, and I don't know if this is just me, or not, but something about her voice tickles me the right way. INow I just turn her videos on while working on something like a podcast, and it just gets me working. Idk, it's weird.
Lmao nobody cares about Lockwood 😂 I really think that you can either really love Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, I feel very few people love both equally. I read WH first and was so obsessed with it, but it took me three times with Jane Eyre before I started to like it, and even know, I think I still like Anne Brontë's books more than Charlotte's. I still haven't read Villette though, so maybe that one will change it. And Bloody Chamber is just so gorgeous (maybe except The Courtship of Mr Lyon, which is like hardly a retelling I think, she just put modern technology to Beauty and the Beast, and Puss-in-Boots, which I just didn't care about). Now I wonder, if you tried reading anything from Shirley Jackson? Her books really have that beautiful, sometimes almost fairy tale like style of writing, but there's so much darkness underneath. And I can't even express how I love her heroines. I think especially you could really like We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
So sad that you didn't love Wuthering heights 😢 I absolutely adored it, and felt very connected to the characters. I also really loved the narrative structure of it, so I think it's just to personal taste 🤷🏻♀️
I really recommend you to read ‘The invisible life of Addie LaRue’! I haven’t read Belladonna, but Addie LaRue will offer you everything you wanted Belladonna to be ☺️
it's fun to see you give same rating to Belladonna and Slaying the Vampire Conqueror. those books were definitely fun, but still a bit lacking, and it's nice to know someone else thinks so too!
Have you read or watched Death Note? That's probably the most similar thing I can think of. Novels is trickier: what exactly did you love about Vicious? For a darker speculative fiction with interesting characters, I'd recommend the Six of Crows duology, but you may have already read that. For a bingeworthy dark academia book, I'd recommend Bunny, but aside from that and one more theme that would be a spoiler, they don't really have that much in common. Bunny is a very weird book: imagine if you put Mean Girls, Alice in Wonderland and Lovecraftian horror in a blender, then add some 'not like other girls', some cult vibes and some academia criticism, and now you have somewhat of an idea what Bunny is.
Okay but before anything I’M SO HAPPY SO MANY OF MY FAVOURITE BOOK TUBERS HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH A FAIRYTALE RETELLING ARC AND ON THAT NOTE this is officially day one of asking you to read “Thorn” by Intisar Khanani, a retelling of the Goose Girl, and it is my favourite book, period. Managed to dethrone “A Man Called Ove” after seven years, but still. It’s a soft fantasy with a WONDERFUL female lead, a very soft neutered romance and one of the best exploration of its themes of class, responsibility, spirituality and abuse. It’s very character-driven, but I know you’ll love it
I just finished Belladonna. I had a lot of fun, but I had issues. The romance was pretty creepy. Also- I’ll try to be vague to avoid spoilers, but the family being totally happy at the end despite what happened makes no sense. And also does no one care why everyone was poisoned at the party in the prologue?! I HATED Wuthering Heights when I had to read it in high school. I do want to read it again as an adult though cause my tastes have changed
I met Adalyn Grace on a book signing (there were multiple writers) and she was THE NICEST person ever. That’s always a plus on my book (pun intended lol). I have Belladonna on my TBR since then, I guess it’s time to put it up on the list haha Love your videos!
i LOVED slaying the vampire conqueror!!! i will read literally anything by carissa broadbent now. i also love the serpent and the wings of night and the sequel, six scorched roses.
I’m currently reading “daughter of no worlds” from the trilogy named “the war of hearts” by Carissa Broadbent and omg LOVE IT. It has a perfect balance of everything, I quite liked “the serpent and the wings of night” but I don’t understand why is more popular that this trilogy that I’m talking about. It feels more complex than the serpent books and at the same time it’s still is so much fun like her books are. They are a total recommendation!
Wuthering heights is one of my favorite books of all time. I dnf twilight and after was just awful. They glamorized a book that should not have been glamorized. Katherine and Heathcliff were trauma bonded heightened by their secluded environment.
"The only tenant I care about is David Tennant. Not... this guy." Duuhh! 😂 Oops, I'm not the first to comment this... But I don't care. This moment deserves all the attention it can get
The way you were describing what you wished Belladonna did sounds basically like the themes in Addie LaRue. Obviously that book isn’t perfect but it sounds like Belladonna wouldn’t have been capable of expanding further on what Addie LaRue already did and bring anything new to the table and maybe that’s why they opted to go for another plot. 🤷🏻♀️
I had to read Wuthering Heights for my A Level English Literature course and my entire class HATED Lockwood the Tennent, it was overwhelming how everyone in the class disliked him. We were taught that with Lockwood and Heathcliff they were purely opposites of each other with Heathcliff being Northern, loving being in nature and running his house very unconventionally whereas Lockwood was Southern from London who had always done things the 'proper' way. We were in a northern school in England so ig that sort of explains why we hated him sm the teacher was Southern and kept trying to argue in his defence but literally no one was having it we all thought he was pretty rude to Heathcliff especially since he was a visitor in his house.
I didn’t like Wuthering Heights and I couldn’t really put my finger on why I didn’t like it, but you put it into words perfectly! I just kept thinking to myself “who do these two characters like each other so much??”
"You probably hear a girl and Death having a thing for each other and think that's weird." Nah. I come from comics. That's not that strange honestly. 😂
I enjoyed Belladonna, but I was pretty disappointed with the sequel. The best parts of the first book (the two as a couple, exploring her powers, etc.) was undercut by the plot itself, which forced them apart for aggravating reasons.
Any books recs on magic world mixed with modern world. Like where there are magic coffee shops and u know a fantasy book that doesn't give of mideval vibes and gives of current world that has magic it it.
Here's my take on Wuthering Heights: I recently read it and to me it seems like a mockery of the romance stories of the period. Both Heathcliff and Catherine are really ugly and selfish people to me, so I was really laughing at her crying and commiserating herself, and also loved to hate him for being the most horrible human being, especially to Isabella, Edgar and his own son. At the end, I like to imagine them bickering in their own coffins, next to each other, for eternity 🤣 Brontë specifically chose this style to narrate the story from Nelly point of view, who hated both Heathcliff and Cathy, so that must be intentional. The author didn't want to tell a lovestory, she wanted to tell a story about to horrible people, and how revenge can ruin lives. At the end, after Heathcliff death, people who were mistreated by him find happiness.
I LOVED One Dark Window! But my hot take is that Two Twisted Crowns wasn't quite as good for me, I was disappointed 😭 I can't wait to hear your thoughts on both 💚
On the topic of love triangles, does anyone have any good recs for books with actual equal love triangles? Not like the super obvious primary/secondary love interest love triangles.
14:58 do you think that because Wuthering Heights isn't written from their pov that modern writers decided to write a similar story but from the characters' head? As in, the reason Twilight has it as inspiration is kinda because the writer wanted to see the trainwreck from the characters' eyes?
I know you get a lot of comments everywhere but is there a place we can send you recommendations? Iv read some things lately that I really thought "the leo youtuber would love this" and wanted to share haha.
I interepreted Heathcliff and Catherine's obsession with each other as two damaged characters who are obessed with the parts of the other person that most resembles themselves. They don't "love" each other as much as they love the resemblance of themselves that they see in the other person. They both have some serious narcissistic tendencies. You can see that in how they treat their respective spouses, but it's most noticeable in how they treat each other.
Hello, based on your thoughts about Belladonna (which I haven't read), I think you'd love Regrettably, I Am About To Cause Trouble - it's about a woman in Tudor times born in a noble family and she can't wait to fulfill her role in the society (get married, give birth to as many boys as she can, hang about in the court with all the noble ladies, etc.) but she slowly changes her mind. And, also, she is a witch...maybe. I heard about it on Emmie's channel and I liked it quite a bit.
What about Georgia Tennant, though? She's hilarious! Also, I remember enjoying Wuthering Heights, I kept kind of recognizing things you describe, but I genuinely couldn't have told you anything about the book except that the guy's name is Heathcliff. And that's mostly because it's constantly refrenced in another book series I've read. So. Maybe I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought.
I've watched a few of your vids recently and just seeing you talk about how much you love fairytales makes me think you would also love "Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space" by Amanda Leduc It's about how fairytales have shaped and reflect our views/treatment of disabled people and the author brings up so many examples i'd never even considered and I feel like this might interest you!
13:19 "the only tenant I care about is David Tennant"
I loved that part
Favorite moment 😂
If you're interested in fairytales and retellings, definitely check out T. Kingfisher's work. I'd especially suggest checking out her book The Halcyon Fairy Book - it's lesser known, but it has the author examining some old folk tales, with her comments along the way, and it almost feels like reading the folk tale together with her and analysing it. Very fun and interesting read!
my comfort booktuber is back
Books that make me giggle are the BEST
New fan/ subscriber! I think you might enjoy a little known favorite of mine: The Eight by Katherine Neville. It's an epic historical fiction published in 1985. I think you would love it because it has a little classics flavor as well as some dark academia vibes. I hesitate to make this comparison but the most succinct way I can describe it is the DaVinci code if it was written by a woman, with a female protagonist, but written decades earlier and SO MUCH BETTER. It's about the search for Charlemagne's mythical chess set (which is a mystery I won't spoil for you) and it alternates between two storylines, one in 1970s New York and the other in 1790s France. The scope of this story is huge but is also just delightful in the way it brings the details of these time periods and places to life, owing to the fact that the author is pulling from a lot of personal experience.
Disclaimer: the book is long, dense, and complex, and took me forever to get through the first time because the buildup of this mystery seems endless but I re-read it at least once a year now and always learn something new I hadn't thought about before. Hope you check it out!
The decription on what you would've wanted from Belladonna sounds like The Invisible life of Addie LaRue, but a bit different, no that I think about it..
Leonie's videos are my main source of serotonin
Only source of serotonin in my exam session😭
for real she is my comfort youtuber
Facts
Sameee
Same! I watch her videos whenever I need cozy vibes or need something to just make my day better 💜
I have a page in my journal called "what was good about today", and I was struggling to find something good about today, and then I remembered I watched this video in the morning, and I remembered the good and comfort feeling I had while watching it. So that was it. And it got me thinking that Leonie is just there living her life, not even imagining that there is a girl in Brazil that just wrote in her journal "today I watched Leonie's new video", and that was the only good thing about my day. So thank you.
The journal sounds like a lovely idea, I think it's great that you take that time and space for yourself every day. And I sincerely hope that you will have lots of more good things to write in there soon. Maybe you think it's weird that some random girl relates to your state of mind, but I just stumbled about you comment and wanted to pass on some kindness. I hope you're doing & feeling okay :)
I don't write journals, but I used to write daily good things that happen last year, it really helped me with my mood and remember the good things and now I don't do it anymore and it does feel a bit more gloomy than when I would do it 😭
Ok but i do feel the same way for a lot of things like when im listening to something or reading some book and i just think with myself " the author have no idea a girl from persia is reading this and drawing things for it" i mean it is pretty interesting how much stories or media in general effects all sorts of different people from all arond the world in different moments
Uma brasileira por aqui também eeeeee 🥰😆😆
I need this page tbh. It sounds amazing to make sure that something, at least 1 thing, made you yourself happy ever day
About the narration in Wuthering Heights: we read the book last year in my book club and also talked about this. My view on it was that it was quite clever to tell the story through the maid because she represented the perspective of us / the reader. We are only watching what is unfolding and are pretty powerless to do anything about it or really help anyone. So she kind of mirrors our position, if that makes sense.
So, about Wuthering Heights... I think that if it was told from the perspective of one of the main characters, we would have had the "romantic/dramatical aura" that we had in Twilight. The reason why the story was told from some outsider perspective is the fact that when we are in an abusive relationship, we often don't realise that. 😅
Yay!!! You officially have 500,000 subscribers! Congrats, Leonie! 🥳🎉🎈
“the only tenant i care about is david tennant” she is so real for that one
Erl king is probably a reference to the German song, Erlkönig by Franz Schubert and written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe! My music teacher in middle school sang this to us, and I loved it - it was super creepy. It was about the king of the elves who steals children.
From google:
The name translates literally from the German as “Alder King” rather than its common English translation, “Elf King” (which would be rendered as Elfenkönig in German). It has often been suggested that Erlkönig is a mistranslation from the original Danish elverkonge, which does mean “king of the elves.”
Yes, great song! I especially like the piano accompaniment
Wuthering Heights is one of my all time favourite books but I get what you're saying about the narrative style.
I think a lot of people have an idea of what they think WH is about, an epic romance basically, and when you read it it's definitely not that. I was pleasantly surprised by that the first time I read it, and how it does actually address the ideas of generational trauma and cycles of abuse, long before they would have had names for that kind of stuff.
Having just read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte) - I feel compelled to recommend it to you because I think it addresses what you didn't like about Wuthering Heights (not getting a POV from the people in the relationship), while still maintaining a super similar gothic vibe and telling a story of abuse and its impact.
Is it worth reading? I found agnes grey to be super disappointing honestly
I agree! It's my favourite Brontë novel, and it's very emotionally impactful
@@palcicaa I enjoyed it! It was definitely slow, but once I got to the diary section I was super engaged. I haven't read a lot of other Bronte works, so all I can say is that I enjoyed it a lot more than Jane Eyre (which I just didn't click with). I definitely say give it a go if it sounds interesting, and if you're iffy at the beginning I think the diary section (which is like ~150-200 pages in) is where it gets really good.
Have you seen the 1996 BBC adaptation of The Tenant at Wildfell Hall starring Tara Fitzgerald and Toby Stephens? If so, how effectively did it convey the themes and crucial plot elements of the novel? I love the adaptation and haven't been compelled to read the source material.
@@palcicaaYes it is.
If you haven’t read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier you’d love it!
OMG I second this! It has the classic Gothic vibes of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, but with even better immersive descriptive writing, and it has the 'obsession' theme done really well from the pov of a character who is actually feeling the obsession. Exactly what Leonie was looking for.
Wuthering Heights holds a special place in my heart because it was one of my favorite books as a teen before I even read many adult books, and it got me really into flawed characters, and it has influenced my own stories as well. But although I definitely still like Wuthering Heights, I think Rebecca is better written.
Ooh, and I'd also recommend The Thirteenth Tale for fans of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Rebecca!
And I'll add Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.
The first thing you need to know about Wuthering Heights is: it is NOT a love story. It has been marketed as a love story, but it is not. It is a dark tale with protagonists you are meant to hate, seen from the point of view of a person of a lower class, commenting on the habits and thoughts of her wealthier employers, criticising them and exposing them. Nelly works as a sort of self-insert for Emily herself, since she also worked, if briefly, at households similar to Wuthering Heights and observed the frivolity and indolence of the upper strata, depicted in Catherine. She mixed that with another almost self-insert character and a homage to her literary hero, Lord Byron, in Heathcliff. But Heatcliff is never meant to be sympathetic, Heathcliff is the perversion of the romantic ideal when inserted into Brontë's realist narrative, he is also a fear of what is "other", a fear of the foreign or the exterior that evolved into the Dracula type narrative. Now the voice of Longwood was there for two reasons: first, he is a well to do male narrator, and therefore, liable to be taken more seriously than the voice of a maid, at least in mid 19th century. Secondly, his arrival offers a queue for the start of the narrative, without him, there is no reason or purpose for the narrative to start thirldy, something that has been lost in later years is the need of the author to justify their book "in universe" so to speak, Emily needed a fictional reason for the manuscript that was Wuthering Heights to exist, and that reason is Longwood's letters to his brother. It is like Jonathan Harker's journal entries or Doctor Watson's work for the Strand. The only other way for her to achieve this while using one of the main characters as first person narrators was if the story was written as a confesion by Heathcliff or Linton or Cathy, and still, for her to bring across the whole story as she intended she would have needed someone who compiled it, who couldn't be Nelly, because of her gender and class. Maybe one of the kids could have done it. But anyway, I don't mean to be pedantic with this obnoxiously long comment, I myself didn't love Wuthering Heights the first time I read it because I was expecting something else. But after studying the Brontë's in depth, I consider Emily to be the best writer out of the three and honestly love to hate her marvellous book and her cast of detestable characters.
I would love to see your thoughts on Anna Karenina if you liked a classic like Jane Eyre, it’s a comment on Russian society, love, passion and obsession. Unlike what you said about Wuthering Heights, you get very close into the minds of all the characters and their layered plots even though it’s in third person.
I love Wuthering Heights, but I agree with your opinion about the POV. It would have been much better if we could actually glimpse the real feelings of the characters. I had the same issue with The Phantom of the Opera since the narrator is some unknown guy who discovers this story thirty years later.
I am so happy that you are enjoying One Dark Window! It was one of the best reads for me last year
That might have been my issue with Phantom thinking back on it.
One dark window is SO GOOD. and the second book is even better!! (Shocker!)
YES I KEEP SAYING THIS!! Two twisted crowns was top tier
YES! I cant believe how much I ADORED One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns, and I definitely liked Two Twisted Crowns better! I finished it at like 2 in the morning and was sobbing in bed for the last chapter or two 😅 Being someone hwho really doesnt cry much, thats saying something!
@@heavenlychaotik SAME! I was actually gasping 😱 that is how you write a duology!!!
@nikki-b Yes! I cant wait to reread them eventually, I still think about them so much haha
Agreeeeed!!
The funny thing for me is I love „Wuthering Heights“ but „Jane Eyre“ was just ok for me. I despise Mr. Rochester more than Heathcliff. For me Catherine and Heathcliff fell in love because they were the only people who could understand the darkest parts of their souls, while their „partners“ only liked the ideas of them. Their relationship just makes sense, because you see them in their most wicked moments still swooning for the other, while everyone else would try to run away. The story feels like a family drama instead of dramatic romance. I rooted for almost everyone except for Heathcliff‘s son (satan‘s copy). They all do gross stuff to each other through the story, but seeing the next generation followed by Nellie finally overcoming all the trauma caused by the ones before them, makes this story so sweet. And Heathcliff dying after he knew that they turned out to be strong enough to put up with him is so funny. I also have some strange idea for a modern retelling of it since I read it. „Wuthering Heights“ but in the style of „the Kardashians“. I think it would be insane and funny at the same time. Heathcliff complaining about everything in a white box would be gold. ( Ah I almost forgot. I‘m also glad that it‘s from Nellie‘s perspective I love her and sharing a head with Catherine and Heathcliff is only tolerable in snippets)
Entirely agree with everything you said.
the bronte sisters didn't have money and charlotte and anne both worked as governesses, so that is kind of their window onto the rich people they worked for. it's typical for them to narrate their stories through servant perspectives. it kind of tells you about them as authors, the separation that they felt. I can see how you as a modern reader in a more class flattened society would want that more direct connection. I need to reread wuthering heights but I have a big physical TBR shelf I'm trying to get to. wuthering heights is kind of the origin of that tall dark handsome bad boy romantic hero - worth reading just to get that history.
“you are a product of your environment” THANK YOU! i feel the same way when i read all these historical fiction books where these women are perfect 21st century thinkers, it was my main criticism of “lesssons in chemistry”
i absolutely ADORE your sweater in this vid oh my god
Does anyone know where it's from?✨
no idea - i would love to know! @@emska7230
Leonie says "let's brush past the shadow tentacles" but this was a selling point for me ngl
This video is literally the highlight of my day. I'm sick and I need to write an essay for college even though it's hard to concentrate. And I was so happy when I saw the post of a new video. I really needed this cozy calm atmosphere 💜
The Brontes are so great at taking a romance and turning it into a more cynical cautionary tale.
Angela Carter is always interesting.
Hope you've been well Leonie!
wuthering heights was an instant favorite for me ( it was also my first finished book in 2024 lol )
amazing book!
Thank you for this dose of humour and good books❤ To answer your question, the traditional fairy tale that inspired "The Bloody Chamber" is very famous in France. It is called "Barbe Bleue" (meaning Blue Beard) and it was standardised by Charles Perrault in the 17th century like Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. The original version is already pretty gothic but Angela Carter's retelling is gold✨✨✨
I've recently found her channel, and I don't know if this is just me, or not, but something about her voice tickles me the right way. INow I just turn her videos on while working on something like a podcast, and it just gets me working. Idk, it's weird.
One Dark Window and its sequel have been my favorite books of the year so far, so glad you’re picking them up!
Lmao nobody cares about Lockwood 😂 I really think that you can either really love Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, I feel very few people love both equally. I read WH first and was so obsessed with it, but it took me three times with Jane Eyre before I started to like it, and even know, I think I still like Anne Brontë's books more than Charlotte's. I still haven't read Villette though, so maybe that one will change it.
And Bloody Chamber is just so gorgeous (maybe except The Courtship of Mr Lyon, which is like hardly a retelling I think, she just put modern technology to Beauty and the Beast, and Puss-in-Boots, which I just didn't care about).
Now I wonder, if you tried reading anything from Shirley Jackson? Her books really have that beautiful, sometimes almost fairy tale like style of writing, but there's so much darkness underneath. And I can't even express how I love her heroines. I think especially you could really like We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
I loved hearing you talk about Belladonna. It reminded me why I loved it so much and makes me want to pick up the sequel!
So sad that you didn't love Wuthering heights 😢 I absolutely adored it, and felt very connected to the characters. I also really loved the narrative structure of it, so I think it's just to personal taste 🤷🏻♀️
7 minutes into the video and already ordered new books..... I personally love your video but my wallet does not enjoy this
I really recommend you to read ‘The invisible life of Addie LaRue’! I haven’t read Belladonna, but Addie LaRue will offer you everything you wanted Belladonna to be ☺️
Fantastic earrings as always :)
What's the bookclub pick for February. Can I see it in any place in case I want to join??
If you'd like a largely unproblematic love interest in a Bronte novel, try The Tenant at Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.
10:35 Disapponted !?! Oh my... 😢😅
it's fun to see you give same rating to Belladonna and Slaying the Vampire Conqueror. those books were definitely fun, but still a bit lacking, and it's nice to know someone else thinks so too!
get better soon
Have you read or watched Death Note? That's probably the most similar thing I can think of. Novels is trickier: what exactly did you love about Vicious?
For a darker speculative fiction with interesting characters, I'd recommend the Six of Crows duology, but you may have already read that.
For a bingeworthy dark academia book, I'd recommend Bunny, but aside from that and one more theme that would be a spoiler, they don't really have that much in common. Bunny is a very weird book: imagine if you put Mean Girls, Alice in Wonderland and Lovecraftian horror in a blender, then add some 'not like other girls', some cult vibes and some academia criticism, and now you have somewhat of an idea what Bunny is.
I'm 14 and you're the best at inspiring me to pick up a book again. My sincere gratitude s to you
Congratulations on 500k, Leonie! Just saw it and kind of freaked out, this is amazing! You so deserve it
was lit having a shit dayyy and so rwady to chill with ur video
She’s back when we needed her most 🩷🩷🩷
Okay but before anything I’M SO HAPPY SO MANY OF MY FAVOURITE BOOK TUBERS HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH A FAIRYTALE RETELLING ARC
AND ON THAT NOTE this is officially day one of asking you to read “Thorn” by Intisar Khanani, a retelling of the Goose Girl, and it is my favourite book, period. Managed to dethrone “A Man Called Ove” after seven years, but still.
It’s a soft fantasy with a WONDERFUL female lead, a very soft neutered romance and one of the best exploration of its themes of class, responsibility, spirituality and abuse.
It’s very character-driven, but I know you’ll love it
I just finished Belladonna. I had a lot of fun, but I had issues. The romance was pretty creepy. Also- I’ll try to be vague to avoid spoilers, but the family being totally happy at the end despite what happened makes no sense. And also does no one care why everyone was poisoned at the party in the prologue?!
I HATED Wuthering Heights when I had to read it in high school. I do want to read it again as an adult though cause my tastes have changed
Belladonna was great!! One Dark Window is my on list ❤️
There’s a version of Bluebeards castle told by Anna Biller (the creator of The Love Witch) that you’d probably like! It also has a gorgeous cover
The domestic war going on in the background at 6:00... cheers for completely ignoring that. I'd lose my train of thought.
The vampire book... this is why I turned off the feature of "showing book cover" in my kindle 😂
I met Adalyn Grace on a book signing (there were multiple writers) and she was THE NICEST person ever. That’s always a plus on my book (pun intended lol). I have Belladonna on my TBR since then, I guess it’s time to put it up on the list haha Love your videos!
happy 500,000k subs!!!!! love your videos
i LOVED slaying the vampire conqueror!!! i will read literally anything by carissa broadbent now. i also love the serpent and the wings of night and the sequel, six scorched roses.
I’m currently reading “daughter of no worlds” from the trilogy named “the war of hearts” by Carissa Broadbent and omg LOVE IT. It has a perfect balance of everything, I quite liked “the serpent and the wings of night” but I don’t understand why is more popular that this trilogy that I’m talking about. It feels more complex than the serpent books and at the same time it’s still is so much fun like her books are. They are a total recommendation!
Having a nice cup of tea while watching your video :) I've never been this early to a video before!
I have had belladonna on my TBR forever now 🥹
Wuthering heights is one of my favorite books of all time. I dnf twilight and after was just awful. They glamorized a book that should not have been glamorized. Katherine and Heathcliff were trauma bonded heightened by their secluded environment.
"The only tenant I care about is David Tennant. Not... this guy."
Duuhh! 😂
Oops, I'm not the first to comment this... But I don't care. This moment deserves all the attention it can get
The way you were describing what you wished Belladonna did sounds basically like the themes in Addie LaRue. Obviously that book isn’t perfect but it sounds like Belladonna wouldn’t have been capable of expanding further on what Addie LaRue already did and bring anything new to the table and maybe that’s why they opted to go for another plot. 🤷🏻♀️
I had to read Wuthering Heights for my A Level English Literature course and my entire class HATED Lockwood the Tennent, it was overwhelming how everyone in the class disliked him. We were taught that with Lockwood and Heathcliff they were purely opposites of each other with Heathcliff being Northern, loving being in nature and running his house very unconventionally whereas Lockwood was Southern from London who had always done things the 'proper' way. We were in a northern school in England so ig that sort of explains why we hated him sm the teacher was Southern and kept trying to argue in his defence but literally no one was having it we all thought he was pretty rude to Heathcliff especially since he was a visitor in his house.
I didn’t like Wuthering Heights and I couldn’t really put my finger on why I didn’t like it, but you put it into words perfectly! I just kept thinking to myself “who do these two characters like each other so much??”
Heathcliff was so annoying
He made me so angry
I still can't understand how some people romanticize abusive people like him
"You probably hear a girl and Death having a thing for each other and think that's weird."
Nah. I come from comics. That's not that strange honestly. 😂
I enjoyed Belladonna, but I was pretty disappointed with the sequel. The best parts of the first book (the two as a couple, exploring her powers, etc.) was undercut by the plot itself, which forced them apart for aggravating reasons.
Any books recs on magic world mixed with modern world. Like where there are magic coffee shops and u know a fantasy book that doesn't give of mideval vibes and gives of current world that has magic it it.
Immediately picking up some Angela Carter books! They sound amazing! I love fairytale retellings!
I shouldn't watch these videos, my TBR list is already at the *getting overwhelming* point 😢
Here's my take on Wuthering Heights: I recently read it and to me it seems like a mockery of the romance stories of the period. Both Heathcliff and Catherine are really ugly and selfish people to me, so I was really laughing at her crying and commiserating herself, and also loved to hate him for being the most horrible human being, especially to Isabella, Edgar and his own son. At the end, I like to imagine them bickering in their own coffins, next to each other, for eternity 🤣
Brontë specifically chose this style to narrate the story from Nelly point of view, who hated both Heathcliff and Cathy, so that must be intentional. The author didn't want to tell a lovestory, she wanted to tell a story about to horrible people, and how revenge can ruin lives. At the end, after Heathcliff death, people who were mistreated by him find happiness.
Yess another video! Love everybody doing their January wrap-ups right now (I’m doing one as well so it’s giving a lot of inspiration)
I LOVED One Dark Window! But my hot take is that Two Twisted Crowns wasn't quite as good for me, I was disappointed 😭 I can't wait to hear your thoughts on both 💚
On the topic of love triangles, does anyone have any good recs for books with actual equal love triangles? Not like the super obvious primary/secondary love interest love triangles.
The Broken God by David Zindell is one of my favourites. Hope you have the opportunity to review it.
how did you like belladonna, the romance there was disgusting, grooming, lies and it's boring
"The only tennant I care about is David Tennant" i'm crying 😂😂😂
i got covid over the summer. didnt feel like i was gonna die, but it def sucked. like a really bad case of the flu. anyway, feel better :)!
Honestly need some good game recommendations for us story-driven girlies, "games that feel like reading a good book" type of situation
14:58 do you think that because Wuthering Heights isn't written from their pov that modern writers decided to write a similar story but from the characters' head?
As in, the reason Twilight has it as inspiration is kinda because the writer wanted to see the trainwreck from the characters' eyes?
I know you get a lot of comments everywhere but is there a place we can send you recommendations? Iv read some things lately that I really thought "the leo youtuber would love this" and wanted to share haha.
I interepreted Heathcliff and Catherine's obsession with each other as two damaged characters who are obessed with the parts of the other person that most resembles themselves. They don't "love" each other as much as they love the resemblance of themselves that they see in the other person. They both have some serious narcissistic tendencies. You can see that in how they treat their respective spouses, but it's most noticeable in how they treat each other.
I contrast with you i absolutely hated Wuthering heights.
happy 500k leonie!! your opinions exactly are on point with mine, defo comfort youtuber
Could you check out The Demons We See by Krista D. Ball
First book just sounds like Deadpool relationship with Lady Death…
But could be interesting to see how differently this idea can be tackled.
Get well soon❤
Hello, based on your thoughts about Belladonna (which I haven't read), I think you'd love Regrettably, I Am About To Cause Trouble - it's about a woman in Tudor times born in a noble family and she can't wait to fulfill her role in the society (get married, give birth to as many boys as she can, hang about in the court with all the noble ladies, etc.) but she slowly changes her mind. And, also, she is a witch...maybe. I heard about it on Emmie's channel and I liked it quite a bit.
Ohhhh it sounds great i'll add it to my list 🤔😋
Get well soon ❤
Just read wuthering heights a month ago and i love it! But i agree that the tenant is useless
i really love your videos
for some reason the idea of one dark window reminds me of narnia voyage of the dawn treader and now i'm so much more excited to read it
Have you read the bargainer series by Laura Thalassa yet?
Hope you're feeling better soon! I suggest curling up with a nice cup of tea and the book you're reading now.
Has anyone read Steven Demogorgon book?
The Mont Saint Michel is actually in the sea, not in a lake.
your videos are literally so comforting i love them sm
Covid is still around? Damn
Feel better soon, hope you are staying safe
What about Georgia Tennant, though? She's hilarious!
Also, I remember enjoying Wuthering Heights, I kept kind of recognizing things you describe, but I genuinely couldn't have told you anything about the book except that the guy's name is Heathcliff. And that's mostly because it's constantly refrenced in another book series I've read. So. Maybe I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought.
I've watched a few of your vids recently and just seeing you talk about how much you love fairytales makes me think you would also love "Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space" by Amanda Leduc
It's about how fairytales have shaped and reflect our views/treatment of disabled people and the author brings up so many examples i'd never even considered and I feel like this might interest you!